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Halloween: The Thorn
Halloween: The Thorn is a 1998 American slasher film and seventh/eight installment in the ''Halloween'' film series. It was directed by Steve Miner and starred Jonathan L. Dee, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film was released on October 31, 1998, as part of a double feature with Halloween: 10/31/98 to mark the 20th anniversary of the original ''Halloween'' (1978). The story was developed and created by Michael Dee with uncredited input from series' stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Jonathan L. Dee. The screenplay was written by Jonathan L. Dee. It is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's Halloween and set in an alternate timeline in which the events that transpired in Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers never occurred (rendering those films non-canon). Set twenty years after the events of the first two movies, The Thorn centers on a post-traumatic Laurie Strode living in fear of her murderous brother, Michael Myers, who attempted to kill her all those years ago. After killing Dr. Sam Loomis upon escaping from being shot, Michael travels to Smith's Grove Sanitarium and burns the place down killing everyone inside and effectively destroying all trace of his existence. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Haddonfield murders, a respected psychiatrist Dr. Nick Castle, is promoting his book on the case. Michael re-appears to kill Laurie and anyone who stands in his way. The film also features many homages to the original film, Psycho (which was one of the film inspirations for the original Halloween and starred Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, who portrayed Norma Watson in this film) and Scream, a 1996 horror/slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Dee's brother Michael Dee that was inspired by the original Halloween. It also shares plot points and casting elements with its sister film Halloween: 10/31/98 on purpose. The film received mixed reviews from critics, praising the script, direction of Steve Miner and the performances of Jamie Lee Curtis and Jonathan L. Dee, but received criticism for certain plot points (such as ignoring the previous films) and its much longer running time and slower pace (compared to 10/31/98). Plot Twenty years after the events of Halloween, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), Cast * Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode/Keri Tate * Jonathan L. Dee as Dr. Nick Castle/Michael Myers * * * Beau Starr as Sheriff Ben Meeker * * Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle * Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace * Robert Phalen as Dr. Wynn * Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers * Charles Cyphers as Leigh Brackett * * Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Sarah Wainthrope * Adam Hann-Byrd as Charlie Deveraux * Janet Leigh as Norma Watson * Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers * * Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis (archival footage) * Tom Kane as Dr. Sam Loomis (voice only) Production In late 1996, while at dinner, Dee and Curtis discussed the possibility of reuniting for a Halloween sequel that could celebrate the original. They would get together on several occasions to discuss ideas on how the two characters could be handled after so many years later. The prospect of bringing back former cast mates, and of course original director John Carpenter, appealed to both. Dee enlisted his younger brother Michael to help with the screenplay and after deciding they had written too much, chopped it into two separate screenplays. Michael took over work on 10/31/98 and Dee focused on The Thorn. Dee and Curtis pitched both scripts to Moustapha Akkad, offering him the choice to pick the one he liked best. As planned John Carpenter was originally in the running to be the director for this particular follow-up since Curtis and Dee wanted to reunite much of the cast and crew of the original and have active involvement in it. It is believed that Carpenter opted out because he wanted no part in the sequel; however, this is not the case. Carpenter was given both scripts and suggested to meet and discuss which one to film. Carpenter though he verbally agreed to direct the movie, asked as his starting fee $10 million. Carpenter rationalized this by believing the hefty fee was compensation for revenue he never received from the original Halloween and the sequels, a matter that was still a point of contention between Carpenter and Akkad even after twenty years had passed. When Akkad balked at Carpenter's fee, Carpenter gave his blessings to Curtis and Dee and then walked away from the project. In need of a director, and yet to decide which script to film, Dee joked about making both films and having a double feature. Curtis thought it was an odd choice, but Akkad liked the idea. It was decided that both films would be made concurrently, sharing a director and a crew. The cast would be interchangeable, with cameos and parallel events making a connection between works. The original working title for the film was Halloween 8: The Thorn of Samhain. Music The original music score was composed by John Ottman, but some music from Scream was added to the chase scenes later on during post-production. Ottman expressed some displeasure about this action in an interview featured on the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD released in 2006. Ottman's score was supplemented with Marco Beltrami's scores from Scream, Scream 2, and Mimic by a team of music editors as well as new cues written by Beltrami during the final days of sound mixing on the film. Dimension Films chief Bob Weinstein demanded the musical changes after being dissatisfied with Ottman's score. No official soundtrack was ever released for the film, but a compilation album by John Ottman was released in the United States and Germany under the Varese Sarabande label and includes the original score by Ottman and numerous other cuts. Alternate Television Version In February 2003, the FX network premiered an alternate version of the film, adding and extending footage not seen in the original release. Reception Box office In terms of total gross, Thorn is the third highest grossing film in the Halloween franchise, behind Rob Zombie's 2007 remake of the original. It was released on October 31, 1998 in the US as a double feature (with a slightly elevated box office price) and as a stand alone film. Together The Thorn and 10/31/98 cost $17 million to produce. As a double feature both films returned over $68 million in domestic box office sales with an opening weekend of $46,187,724. As stand alone films,10/31/98 edged The Thorn out by $12 million with a take of $40 million, to The Thorn's take of 28 million. As for video/DVD sales, the film grossed over $11 million. Critical response Thorn received mixed reviews. with a rating of 56% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 57 reviews; the site's general consensus is "Halloween: Thorn is the best of the many sequels, slightly superior to 10/31/98, yet still pales in comparison to the original Halloween." The film was mainly praised for its writing, directing and the acting, particularly for the performances of Jamie Lee Curtis and Jonathan L. Dee. Continuity * As originally conceived, a plot device in which Laurie had faked her death was written explicitly to account for her reported "death" in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and the original story treatment for 10/31/98 acknowledged the events depicted in the fourth through sixth films in the series, including the existence and death of Laurie's daughter, Jamie Lloyd; however, Dee ultimately chose to ignore the continuity of the previous three sequels to focus more on Jamie Lee Curtis's character, Laurie Strode and not confuse the targeted audience with necessary exposition. Instead Laurie merely changed her identity and name to escape from her brother. The film's screenplay was adjusted to show the actions of Michael Myers, allowing him to vanish after the first night. Another point of contention was the apparent death of Michael in Halloween II, Dee always felt that not even Michael could have survived that. * Halloween: The Thorn features the return of past cast members; Brian Andrews as Tommy Doyle, Kyle Richards as Lindsey Wallace, Robert Phalen as Dr. Wynn, Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers, and Charles Cyphers as Leigh Brackett. Beau Starr makes a return appearance as Sheriff Ben Meeker from Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers showing that some characters still exist in this new universe. * Jamie Lee Curtis' mother, Janet Leigh, appears in this film as Mrs. Watson. Janet Leigh is best known for her role as Marion Crane in Psycho (1960). There is a scene where we see Mrs. Watson's car behind her. It is a 1957 Ford Custom 300. This is the same car that Marion trades her car for in Psycho when she is on the run. It is rumored to be the same exact car. * The yearbook shown in the beginning of the film lists Laurie as being part of the Class of 1978. However, if she was still in school in October 1978, she would have been part of the Class of 1979. Home media In the United States, Halloween: The Thorn was released on VHS and laserdisc by Buena Vista Home Video. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on VHS in 1998, a re-release was made on September 1, 2000. On DVD, the film was first released by Dimension Films on October 19, 1999 as part of the "Dimension Collector's Series" on DVD. It was released in the UK on October 22, 2001 and re-released on April 25, 2011. It was also released exclusively in the UK in 2004, as part of the complete collection, consisting of the first eight films, a set that is now out of print. It was re-released in the US by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment on April 26, 2011, although, it does not contain its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, it now features a new 1.66:1 widescreen transfer. Halloween: The Thorn was released in Canada for the first time ever on Blu-ray by Alliance released along with Halloween: 10/31/98 and Halloween: Resurrection on January 12, 2010. On May 3, 2011 it was released by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in the US but with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (not cropped from the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, but rather open-matte due to the film being shot in Super 35). It was also released along with Halloween: 10/31/98 in one Blu-ray collection. External links * * * * *